Center News
Adolescent Literacy
Review of New York State's English Language Arts Standards
Pursuant to Chapter 57 of the Laws of 2007, the New York State Education Department (NYSED) began the process of reviewing all of New York State's Learning Standards starting with English Language Arts (ELA) and English as a second language (ESL). The New York Comprehensive Center (NYCC) has assisted NYSED by developing a process to review all content standards, recommending a group of ELA and literacy experts, and facilitating feedback sessions. In preparation for the articulation and presentation of the review and recommendations for revision of the ELA standards, the NYCC Adolescent Literacy Team is reviewing approximately 25 states' ELA standards documents and is creating a report for NYSED that will include a matrix of common elements, language, and format.
Comprehensive Assessments
The CAS team has just completed a series of 3 informational meetings at NYSED. These meetings have focused on: a) acquainting NYSED program staff with the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) definition and attributes of formative assessment; b) Wiliam's and Black's research on the potential characteristics and benefits of classroom formative assessment; c) learning about ongoing work in other state departments of education to support formative assessment. The working group explored a possible definition of formative assessment for use within NYSED. The team also just completed the first academic year of work with Syracuse Instructional Support Teachers (ISTs) promoting and supporting formative assessment use in 4th and 5th grade mathematics classrooms. Work with the ISTs will continue through the summer to plan for academic year 2.
Institutions of Higher Education/Teacher Quality
The New York State Education Department's Office of K–16 Initiatives and Access Programs has been charged with creating a work group that will provide recommendations to the Board of Regents on strengthening the recruitment, preparation, and retention of urban teachers. The Institutions of Higher Education/Teacher Quality (IHE/TQ) initiative will help identify the members of the workgroup, assist in creating a timeline, provide scientifically based research and evidence-based practices, and suggest priority recommendations.
Mathematics
In conjunction with our partner, the United Federation of Teachers Teacher Center (UFTTC), the mathematics initiative continues to work on a new model for implementing academic intervention services (AIS) for students struggling in mathematics. Expert mathematics trainers continue to provide professional development to AIS teachers in a cohort of schools in the use of Singapore mathematics and other research-based strategies. This effective intervention has the potential to be replicated throughout New York State. Professional development models including regularly scheduled workshops, school based study groups and individual coaching will be documented for effectiveness and possible dissemination by the New York State Education Department to other school districts. The preliminary success of this initiative will have positive implications for building the capacity of NYSED to support school districts as they reform their AIS services in mathematics.
Parent Involvement
The Parent Involvement team is participating in the Summer Parent Academy (SPA) in July sponsored by the NYDOE Office for Family Engagement and Advocacy. We are conducting workshops on Team Building and Sharpening Your Advocacy Skills. The final meeting of the NYSED Parent Advisory Committee convened on June 25, 2008.
Statewide System of Support
The NYCC, at the request of the Commissioner, is working with McKinsey & Company, the Parthenon Group and Nelson Mullins Riley (Education Counsel), which have all been funded by the Gates Foundation, to assist the Regents and NYSED leadership in developing plans for a performance transformation of NYSED. The Education Counsel is working closely with the NYCC to examine best practices in state-level school support and intervention and will be developing an outline of a new possible system or systems. The focus of the Board of Regents is to improve educational leadership across the state, develop a cutting-edge service capacity within the Department, identify and implement best practices that improve schools, revise the system by which schools are held accountable, and design a comprehensive data system that will track the progress of individual students from pre-kindergarten through college.
TQ Research and Policy Update cites the NYCC
The NYCC was cited in the National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality's (NCCTQ) newsletter TQ Research and Policy Update in October 2006.
The regional comprehensive assistance centers often have relationships in their states and regions that can open doors to begin the necessary conversations about setting goals for teacher preparation programs to revise their curricula and develop K–16 collaborative relationships that target some of the schools and districts in the state with the highest need. The regional comprehensive assistance centers also have resources that can support bringing people together in K–16 partnerships with a focus on preparing highly-effective teachers for at-risk schools. The biggest hurdle is often the simple act of getting organizations with complementary missions into the same room to agree on a shared set of goals and outcomes. This neutral convener role can be a critical function in moving state policy and program conversations forward, and it is one that the regional comprehensive assistance centers are well positioned to play.
For example, the New York Comprehensive Center recently convened a symposium in which higher education faculty were joined by school district and state education agency representatives to hear Catherine Snow discuss Knowledge to Support the Teaching of Reading. In the afternoon, the higher education faculty participated in discussion groups about higher education syllabi and the use of scientifically based research.
TQ Research and Policy Update, October 2006
Join our email list to receive information on news, events and other announcements. Subscribe now >